LIPW Weekly Pacifist Spotlight: Desmond T. Doss (1919-2006)

Desmond Thomas Doss was born on February 7, 1919. Assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, Doss was drafted in April 1942 during the height of the Pacific assault. However, due to personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, Doss refused to carry a weapon or engage in combat. Consequently, he became a field medic. A Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Doss successfully saved over 75 soldiers during a barrage of heavy gun fire. Weeks later, after suffering a compound fracture to his arm, Doss lashed a rifle stock to the shattered bone and crawled over 300 yards to a medical station. Doss died at his home Piedmont, Alabama on March 23, 2006.